Compatriots
by Desperado1102
Summary: Betrayed and left for dead, Mia is rescued by Director Fury and dumped in the laps of the Avengers for training. Mia has survived against all odds after being experimented on by an emerging, covert Chinese faction that has been on SHIELD's radar - and not in a good way. Mia's life is forever changed by what she has become and she wonders if after everything, can she be saved?
1. Earth's Mightiest Heroes

Mia didn't know what she expected when Director Fury pushed a set of unmarked double doors open, but she certainly didn't expect what she saw.

The room was large and well appointed, boasting glass separators that doubled as screens for various scientific formulas and blueprints. The way the graphs moved and recalibrated reminded Mia of the way a huge body of water ebbed and flowed on a particularly windy day. In the center of the room, lounging on the couch with his feet up and his hammer at his side, was the Norse God, Thor. He was wearing blue jeans and his hair was down around his shoulders, some of the golden strands covering part of his face. He appeared to be sleeping, though she wasn't sure how he managed to sleep through such chaos. His fingers twitched and idly Mia wondered what gods dreamt of.

There was rock music playing from a set of speakers in the corner. Four out of five of the mounted TVs were on, each one broadcasting a different program, some of which she had never seen before, and nearly every single light in the room was on, casting a vibrant yellow glow about the place. The far wall was completely glass with dark iron panes separating the plates and Mia could see the distant clouds alight with the flaming luminescence of sunset.

Beneath one of the several mounted TVs, Tony Stark was poised to shoot, wearing only the forearm of his suit, aiming at a smiling Steve Rogers who had his shield held at chin level and was crouched to absorb a blow that didn't come. Both wore civilian clothes and had an air about them that seemed almost normal. As if they were simply old friends and nothing more. Steve egged Tony on in a bawdy tone, but Tony refused to be needled into firing, and their good-natured argument raged on.

The Russian woman, Natasha Romanov, was sitting on a barstool near the pair, elbows resting casually on the black granite bar behind her as she milked a half-forgotten martini. Her eyes, prior to registering other people in the room, had been watching Tony and Steve. Now, they were focused on Fury and the young woman he had with him, glinting with curiosity, though she made no move to alert her compatriots. Above Natasha on the small balcony, perched like a cat watching the street from a living room window, was Clint Barton, dressed in all black and also very quietly focused on Mia. She had been able to feel his eyes the moment the doors opened, unlike the woman's, whose glittering green stare came later.

That only left Dr. Bruce Banner, who she couldn't immediately locate; the other five were so present that they distracted from the dark-haired man standing across the room behind one of the many separators. He was calmly swiping images on the screen left and right, pulling up 3D models with just hand gestures and she was sure she'd never seen anything like it. He didn't look very terrifying, or even like he'd get angry enough to fly into a homicidal rampage, but she knew better. There was a beast inside him - one that mirrored the beast inside her. She made a mental note to stay on the doctor's good side.

"Nice to see you lot getting some work done," Fury bellowed, his voice immediately catching the attention of all in attendance, stunning them into stillness for a moment. He reached out and swiped his finger casually against a glass pane to his right, typing in six characters and effectively cutting off all noise in the room. When the moment passed, it wasn't Fury they were focused on, it was the woman standing next to him and about two steps back. Her hesitation to enter the room further was apparent in the set of her shoulders and the furrow in her brow. Thor had risen to his feet too quickly for someone who had been asleep seconds ago, Banner peeked his head from around the glass, the two black clad assassins stood should to shoulder, sizing her up quietly, while Tony and Steve took a couple cautious steps forward, all traces of playfulness wiped from their expressions. Mia did not miss the brilliant glow of light coming from the palm of Tony's suit and Steve no longer held his shield with the cool confidence of a man who knew there was no present danger.

Fury, noticing the tension forming in the room, clasped his hands behind his back and smiled, gliding toward the center of the sitting area so he was right in between the Avengers and the lone woman.

"I'd like to introduce you to Mia Stone," he said, sweeping his arm around to gesture at Mia who stood stock-still. Her wide grey eyes jumped from face to face, assessing the situation. She deducted no one was behaving hostilely enough to attack, so she forced her mind to relax. She didn't want to appear to be on the defense, though she could not help the way her muscles instinctively coiled, like a rattlesnake would just before striking.

When no one said anything, Fury continued, pacing around the room as he spoke.

"She was extracted from the Mountain Ranges of Gansu, more specifically the Min Mountains, where she was abandoned and left for dead 3 days ago -"

"She looks pretty spritely for being on the brink of death 3 days ago," Tony interjected, never once taking his eyes off Mia. Fury's head turned in Tony's direction, fixing him with a wilting stare before he answered.

"That's why she's here, Stark. Mia is unique. Her survival proves that." As Fury was speaking, Dr. Banner was slowly walking toward Mia, hands clasped together in front of his stomach as if he wanted to touch but was holding back. His eyes were bright with the spinning of wheels inside his head and his mouth was agape, staring at her like she was the second coming of Christ.

"MADI," he whispered, once again interrupting Fury's speech. Fury looked over his shoulder at Bruce, this time, a smile splitting his face.

"Yes, Dr. Banner. MADI." Fury rested his fists on his hips, squaring off in front of Mia while Bruce advanced slowly on her. Seeing the fear in her doe-like eyes and the way her whole body seemingly vibrated with the sudden need to run, he unclasped his hands and put them up, palms exposed and fingers spread wide.

"I'm not going to hurt you," he said, his voice firm and calm and Mia took a small breath to steady herself, though the pricking at the back of her neck screamed at her to escape. "But what's inside you," he said, pointing his finger at her head, "is a feat of science unlike anything I've ever seen."

Tony snorted and crossed his arms against his chest, clearly underwhelmed by the great feat of science standing in front of him. Bruce glared hot daggers in his direction and Mia watched the Russian woman stiffen. It was an almost imperceptible movement, but Mia noticed her rock forward on the balls of her feet, positioning herself in the direction of a clean getaway should the need arise. Tony, obviously not wanting to press Bruce any further, yielded and focused his attention back on Mia, this time, narrowing his eyes at her as if the harder he looked at her the more sense the whole encounter would make. She wanted to tell him it wouldn't.

"If you're all done?" Fury asked, having moved back over to stand near Mia. When Bruce had begun his advance toward her, Fury found himself taking small steps in her direction, ready to plant himself in between the pair if Banner really wasn't as composed as he promised. He was leaning against the wall at her side, arms crossed and face impatient. All six heads rotated in his direction, expressions masked but earnest to know what was going on. "Good." He pushed himself up off the wall and reached out to grab Mia's upper arm, pulling her gently her alongside him into the middle of the room so everyone could get a good look and get it out of their systems. She flinched at the sensation of his fingertips pressing into her skin but didn't resist. Since she had been fished out of the snow like a popsicle, Fury had been the only person she knew she could trust, and that was a stretch, but he was all she had at the moment.

"Mia is the product of an experiment preformed by a covert Chinese Intelligence branch of the Ministry of State Security." Across the room, Thor shifted his weight on his feet, processing with a quiet calm that Mia could feel resonating from him, though his stance was subtly threatening. "Miss Stone here was teaching English to Mandarin-speaking students when the school she was teaching at was suddenly quarantined, though no trace of disease was found in or around the premises. Turns out," Fury started, releasing Mia's arm and turning to address those standing on his other side, "The Chinese were in need of a guinea pig for their science experiment and set their sights on Mia." Mia flinched, knowing he was only giving them the bare bones of the story.

A month before she was abducted from her teaching post, she had been casually seeing a strikingly handsome Chinese doctor named Jet Ming. They met at a charity benefit for education in China - one of the only black tie galas she had ever attended in her life. Maybe it was the champagne, but Jet had charmed her, acting the part of the perfect gentleman. He was sincere, compassionate and polite and in a country where she knew no one, Mia started to let her guard down.

In the weeks that followed, Jet became increasingly controlling, jealous of anyone who even glanced in Mia's direction. His need to control her overwhelmed her to the point where Mia cringed at the sight of his name lighting up her phone screen. The perfect gentleman was gone, and in his place was a secretive, manipulative monster. He told her nothing about his job yet he demanded to know everything about hers. Through the little bits and pieces she gleaned from overhearing him on the phone with work, she got the strange feeling he wasn't telling her the whole truth about who he was and what he did. Weeks later, she couldn't kick the feeling and unable to suffer one more second with Jet, Mia broke it off, being as gentle and calm as she could manage while he thundered and raged, his face turning an alarming shade of red. The last thing he said to her before disappearing was 'This isn't the end.'

When hoards of black clad shadows descended upon her quiet school, Mia knew Jet had made good on his last words. They came in through the windows, shattering glass around the children like drops of frozen rain, drawing blood from exposed legs, arms and hands. Mia found herself running into the thick, throwing herself in front of the children she could grab onto, pushing them back against the wall, under desks and out into the hallway before she was subdued by iron grips. Several sets of hands latched on to her, pushing her down to the tile, zip-tying her hands behind her back so tightly her fingertips tingled immediately. She screamed for help but no help came. She felt a cold prick in her neck and felt the rush of liquid shoot into her veins. Her screams dissipated, and no matter how hard she fought, her traitorous eyelids closed against her will, plummeting her into blackness. They didn't bother with anyone else and in five short minutes, they had all disappeared, Mia in tow.

Hours later, when her eyes flickered open, she remembered seeing nothing but blinding white light. When her eyes adjusted to the point where she didn't need to squint anymore, a smiling face appeared over her. It was Jet and he had a venom in his look that burned Mia's skin.

"Hello, little white flower," he murmured and for the first time, she noticed that she was strapped to an operating table, dressed in nothing but a white surgical gown. "I'm going to make sure you remain awake. I wouldn't want you to miss a single second of the new life I'm giving you." She couldn't move or speak but she felt hot tears rolling out from the corners of her eyes, wetting her chestnut hair at the temples and creeping into her ears. He laughed once he saw her realize she was trapped in her own mind. She remembered the sound - a sharp, hollow bark - and how it pierced through her almost painfully.

He hadn't been bluffing. She remained awake throughout the entire procedure. When they flipped her onto her stomach, when they yanked her hair away from the back of her neck with such force she saw bright lights at the corners of her vision. They spoke Cantonese so she couldn't understand what they were saying but she was in so much agony she wouldn't have been able to register anything correctly anyway. By the time Jet had applied his scalpel to her neck, she was looking through blurred vision at a puddle of tears on the ground below, the need to scream nearly overwhelming. She prayed she would pass out from the pain, but knew they had given her something to prevent such blissful relief.

After the device was in and they had stitched her back up, they flipped her over, hovering above her as if their heads were floating. She thought the worst was over. Nearly half a dozen faces, mostly hidden by surgical masks, watched her lie in quiet torture, unable to utter a syllable. Suddenly, a white-hot pain lashed out; she could feel it rushing through her body, stretching and reaching and grasping until she felt it all over. It was like a steel rod had erected itself against her spinal cord, gripping the underside of her skull and sliding like fingers into her brain. She felt it everywhere, like it was splitting her bones apart and wrenching on tissue and muscle and she couldn't escape it. What was worse were the eyes glaring down at her. Though their mouths were covered, she could tell they were grinning, she could see the glee in their eyes and she could see her own face, tear-stained and wrought with pain, staring back at her, reflected in their black stares.

Two days later, when she had fully recovered, Mia was presented to a man she'd never seen before as he sat behind a large mahogany desk in full military attire. He shouted something in Cantonese, and Mia was astonished to realize she understood. After that she remembered a lot of yelling, a gun to her head, and then, nothing.

When the blackness subsided she felt gripping panic, flashing back to being strapped down on an operating table with no way to move. It was Fury's face that appeared over her, concern furrowing his brow, drawing his lips tightly together.

"You're safe now. You're going to be alright." A sob wrenched itself from her throat; he was American. She had been saved.

All eyes once again flickered over to Mia and she shook her head slightly, as if this simple gesture would free her from the torment of her memories. She felt like an ant would under a hot magnifying glass, burning in a blinding ray of sunlight that she was unable to escape. There was a dramatic pause in which Fury let his words sink in. When he was satisfied he finally had control of the conversation, he turned to Bruce.

"Dr. Banner has been tracking progress of this device. They call it codename MADI. It stands for Memory and Data Implant and in the wrong hands, it could create a devastating ripple effect." Mia cringed. The way Fury was talking about the thing inside her head made her feel like she was some sort of destructive machine that needed to be contained. A week ago she had been a normal person teaching at her normal job living her normal life. Now she was dressed in government issued clothing, kept under surveillance night and day because she was a flight risk and found herself standing in the presence of Earth's Mightiest Heroes. When she had told Director Fury that even they couldn't save her, that the damage was done, he had unflinchingly responded, "I don't need them to save you. What I need is another player on my team."

What authority did she have to turn them down? It was either join them or be captive by them, there was no other way. That didn't mean she wasn't wary, however. She was certainly not the hero type and she most definitely was not a genius billionaire. Mia was convinced she had nothing to contribute to the team except for what was implanted in her head, fused to her spinal cord all the way down to the very base. But that wasn't her. It didn't define who she was, and she wouldn't let it.

But she didn't know how to control it and that scared her to her very core.

Please share thoughts! Thank you in advance :)


	2. MADI

"What are we talking here; what exactly does it do?" Steve asked, lowering his shield only by a fraction. She didn't know why, but this small move reassured Mia. It didn't make her feel so much like a nemesis or a wild animal.

"Dr. Banner, I'll concede to you on this one," Fury said and backed up against a wall, crossing his arms and keeping Mia in his sights as she stood untouched in the center of the curious group. Bruce nodded his head and stepped toward the group, standing next to Mia but not close enough that it would frighten her.

"MADI is a highly capable form of artificial intelligence, although the difference is that it is not separate from its host or controller. MADI is an implant, no bigger than a tic-tac, which we believe is injected into the base of the skull. Once inside, the implant does something I've never seen before. It attaches onto the person's brain stem and spinal cord, fusing itself to tissue and bone until it is impossible to remove or differentiate from the host body. We had just begun tracking its progress a couple weeks ago. It was nowhere near ready to be used for human trials…" Bruce trailed off; shaking his head and looking at Mia with a stunned look on his face. "And if they did somehow manage to find a host, we never thought that the host would survive the fusion process. Apparently it's one of the most painful experiences documented…" Trailing off again, Bruce seemed to be lost in thought. Tony stepped up to Mia, almost toe to toe.

"So is it you in there? Or is it MADI?" he asked, his voice strangely kind after it had been so curt not ten minutes before. Mia took a couple breaths, biting the inside of her lip but refusing to look away from Tony's intrusive glare.

"It's me," Mia murmured softly and watched as Tony's eyebrows shot upward toward his hairline. He hadn't expected her voice to sound so lyrical, like the peeling of bells singing from a church tower. Faces around the room mimicked his shocked expression but Mia ignored them, continuing on slowly. "But it's MADI too." She lowered her head to look at her feet, feeling hot tears prickling at the corners of her eyes. She didn't want to appear weak, so she counted to three and looked back up, eyes focused and clear. His velvet brown eyes watched her carefully, no doubt waiting for something to malfunction but she held fast. "It's both of us." Mia shrugged a shoulder up to her chin as if to say, 'and there's nothing I can do about that.' Something told her he understood because he backed away and looked to Bruce who was now fervently tapping away at one of the glass monitors.

"I do not understand the catastrophe theory. What ripple effect could this little implant possibly have?" Thor was walking toward the rapidly tightening group surrounding Mia. She noticed he had left his hammer by the couch. Banner's head popped out from around the glass.

"That little implant is packed with classified codes that send signals to any database globally. She has the ability to directly download information from any database, undetected. CIA, FBI, SHIELD, MI-6; it's all there, right at her fingertips. It's also allowing her to utilize more of her brain functionality which means her senses are extremely heightened for an average human." For the first time since Fury introduced her, Mia watched the two assassins move. They turned to each other, exchanging a look of disturbed shock. Though they stayed farther back than the rest of the party, they listened intently, watching with indifferent eyes. Mia felt cold under the woman's stare. "And according to these charts from the doctors that attended to you, Mia, it looks like you heal at an advanced rate. Your cells regenerate 800 times faster than the average human. Apparently there was something in the implant that was released, a neurotoxin of sorts that made this possible." Bruce was completely engrossed in her medical records, poring over them with a solemn intensity that unnerved her slightly.

There was a silence in the room that rattled in Mia's ears. Tony had moved to stand next to Bruce, monitoring the information he was reading with a serious expression, stealing glances at Mia when he thought she wasn't looking.

"Miss Stone has some valuable intel, not only in regards to the world's intelligence platforms, but on this newly developing Chinese sect we didn't see coming. It seems to my superiors and me that they are using their powers for bad rather than good. We need to stay on top of them, and you all," Fury paused, having pushed himself away from the wall to point his outstretched finger at everyone in the room. "You all need to keep an eye on Mia. She is an asset to this team and should be treated as such." Fury stated in a tone that was no-nonsense. Heads around the room bobbed up and down in agreement. "Excellent. Agents Romanoff and Barton, with me please. The rest of you…" he began and rolled his eyes as he turned toward the door. "As you were." With a flippant wave of his hand, he and the two assassins disappeared from the room, leaving Mia alone with the rest of the party.

Steve and Tony were flanking Bruce, watching the screen move with stern expressions and Thor stood just to her left, watching her. She turned her head to lock eyes with him and was surprised to find his gaze disarming, understanding. She was about to look away when he spoke.

"Come," he said, gesturing to the couch behind him. "Sit."

Mia weighed her options, or lack thereof. It was either stand in the middle of the room like an idiot, watch the other three play with a screen or have a sit down with the Norse God. Finally, she decided the latter option was the most sensible. Though her body felt no fatigue, her mind sagged in a way that begged her to sit down, to relax. She counted seven steps between her position and the couch. Thor had matched her pace when she neared him and they sat down in tandem, her in the plush armchair, and him beside her on the couch adjacent.

He fell back into the cushions closing his eyes, his goldenrod hair tumbling over his shoulders. She noted that it was longer than it was in the picture from his file. He must have felt her gaze on him because he popped one blue eye open and smiled when he caught her staring. She felt the blood rush to her face and looked away.

"There is nothing to be afraid of here, Mia," he murmured, still smiling a brilliant white smile. Both of his eyes were open and watching her now, his head turned to face her. A smile twitched at the corner of her mouth and he was not convinced. "We will let no harm come to you, if that is what you fear," he said and closed his eyes again, clasping his hands in his lap and taking a deep breath. "You are safe now."

Mia knew that marked the end of the very one-sided conversation as she could feel Thor drifting into a light sleep. She continued to watch him for a couple moments more, counting his breaths unconsciously as his chest rose and fell. Eventually, she allowed herself to sit back against the cushions. Her lower back tingled with the relief of taking all the pressure off her feet and before she knew it, her eyes were closing.

At the other side of the room, the three grim-faced men huddled together shoulder to shoulder, straining to hear the video playing on the screen before them. Tony was wedged in the middle, feeling Steve's disgust radiating from him, feeling his head turning away now and again as it got harder and harder to watch. Bruce watched with clenched fists and clenched teeth, a fire springing into his stare that unnerved Tony, but not enough for him to move away. He, himself could not look away from the gruesome happenings on the screen and when the scalpel pierced the tanned, smooth skin on the back of Mia's neck, something hateful and vengeful began to swirl in the pit of his stomach. From across the room, as Mia fell into a sleep that felt safe for the first time in a long time, Tony, Steve and Bruce watched the screen, as a scared young woman changed against her will.

Thanks all! Hope you enjoyed


	3. A Shift in the Universe

A week had gone by. Mia had watched every sunrise and sunset from her bedroom window in Stark Tower. It felt like the blink of an eye, though her days were packed with so much she could barely stand by nightfall. She sought solace in her room. It was a place of her own, where she could step away from the chaos and into blessed silence. Not that everyone hadn't been kind and understanding and helpful, because they had. It was just sometimes she felt the need to separate herself, to remind herself of who she was before all this happened. She knew she was the same person, but sometimes remembering that person was a challenge.

She was tired, more tired than she had ever been in her life and for once, she thought she might watch the sunset from the roof. She felt tears of frustration and loneliness burning hot at the corners of her eyes, searing, taunting. Though she was surrounded by people all day every day, she had shut herself off, unable to make real connections to her teammates because of her fear and anger, her passion for revenge. She knew she was secluding herself, but sometimes she couldn't help it. The need to be alone felt overwhelming at times.

Her quick walk to the elevator was thankfully undisturbed. She didn't want anyone to see her like she was, bruised from the day's training and forlorn. She wasn't even sure why she was crying anymore, but she couldn't stop. It felt like there was a giant pitcher inside of her chest and it was overflowing, pouring out all of her emotions, all of her sadness and worry. It was drowning her.

The elevator dinged and the doors slid open. With blurry vision, Mia stepped out onto the concrete roof, gasping at the summer air like the drowning woman she felt she was. When she blinked, a tear from each eye dropped onto the ground making two perfect wet dots just in front of her toes. With her vision cleared, she could now see that she wasn't the only one seeking solace on the roof.

Thor sat with his back against a wall, legs crossed at the ankle, watching her quietly. When she noticed him, her body locked down and she poised to run like a rabbit caught eating the garden's good greens. Her silvery eyes opened wide as the two regarded each other for a moment. Thor could nearly see the stress and fatigue snake through her body like a living creature. She looked just as she did the first night she arrived at Stark Tower, vibrating on the balls of her feet like she would sooner run than trust a group of strangers.

He knew, through observing her training, that things hadn't improved much. She had begun to trust them, but only slightly and only when she knew she was backed into a corner. He supposed it was partly their fault. Him and the rest of the team were born heroes, assassins, geniuses or a combination of the three. Perhaps they hadn't chosen this particular path to walk down, but they had been ready when the call came in. Mia, on the other hand, had not been born any of those things, nor had she been ready. She was a blank slate that Fury was trying to color on to fit his idea of a superhero.

When Thor watched her during training, it was as though she had unplugged herself from her body, going through the motions with a dull edge that weighed heavily on Thor. Sometimes he didn't watch, feeling a deep sadness that he couldn't carry over into his personal duties. He kept thinking to himself, "there must be something I can do."

"Come, little Mia. Come sit down with me," he murmured and patted the concrete next to him. Her body relaxed and, unlike the first night, she didn't hesitate, but moved toward him gracefully, slowly. A long sigh escaped her as she sat next to him, her shoulder brushing lightly against his bicep. She slumped forward slightly, the tips of her chestnut hair curling against her thighs as she hung her head. The sun had set moments before and in the light of the full moon, Mia looked like an ancient statue, doubled over in pain as if mourning the loss of something great. Her porcelain skin was illuminated, glowing mutedly as she sat, unmoving.

"I come out here nearly every night," Thor said softly, capturing Mia's attention, trying to divert her energy away from the sadness that radiated from her. He craned his neck back to look at the night sky, alight and sparkling. There wasn't a cloud in sight. It would be clear tomorrow. "Sometimes it helps after a long day's work."

Mia turned her head slightly toward him, her chin angled upward, and when she didn't respond right away, Thor looked down at her. Her eyes were large and laden with glistening tears that pushed right up against her lash line.

"How?" she finally asked and, like most times, he was distracted for a moment by the melodic ringing of her voice. There was a note of desperation in it that twisted in his gut, as if she was reaching for a way to help her situation.

The corners of his eyes crinkled and a jolly smile curved his lips. His eyes were like blue crystals, rivaling the brilliant sparkle of the stars they sat beneath. Since the first day, Mia had felt endeared to Thor. He always looked at her with shining eyes and a great big smile that felt like home. He was kind for the sake of being kind, because it was in his nature, not because he felt a duty. He was genuine in a different way than the others. His worry, his fear, his happiness, all felt real. It was grounding.

"Sitting here, looking up at the sky…it reminds me of my home," he answered, watching her closely as she let her head fall back on her shoulders. The top of her head pushed against the wall behind them. Thor noticed the little thump of a heartbeat beneath the smooth skin of her exposed neck. So fragile, he thought idly, so human.

"Can you see it?" she asked suddenly, turning her face to look back at his. "Asgard?"

"No. I'm afraid my home is lifetimes away from here," he told her, shaking his head. Though he didn't seem sad, she could tell he missed his home just the same way she missed hers.

"Why do you stay? What makes you want to protect a planet that isn't yours?" His smile widened. The expression of misery was gone from her delicate features. He felt a surge of happiness at that.

"Because I fell in love with you puny humans. Your kindness, your independence, your humanity - it captivates me," he stated with the ease of someone who had answered the same question thousands of times. "It started with one woman in particular. Her name was Jane and I loved her very much." It was Mia's turn to watch him carefully, waiting for his mood to grow bitter or his smile to falter. It didn't.

"What happened?" she asked after a couple beats of silence.

"She did not understand me the way she understood the science connected to me. After a while, she grew restless. I think, in the end, she missed her own kind." He paused for a moment and gazed this time across the specks of light that were New York City. "She is a good woman, but we did not make one another happy anymore."

Mia followed his line of sight and nodded. "Why didn't you leave after it ended?"

"I could not find it in myself to abandon the people I love," he told her and turned to look at her, gently nudging her shoulder with his arm. "Asgard is enjoying its longest, most prosperous time of peace in hundreds of years. Besides, time moves much differently on Asgard than here on Earth. I will not be missed for long."

She seemed content with his answers for the time being. The glassiness in her eyes had dissipated, replaced with a look of silent contemplation. He knew she was thinking of his world and perhaps even Jane. He didn't mind, as long as she wasn't thinking of her troubles. He realized he himself hadn't thought about Jane in nearly a year's time. She seemed worlds away, almost as unreachable as Asgard, but he knew she was right across town, tucked safely away in her small apartment, probably sleeping soundly. He hoped she was happy, whatever the case.

"I like it out here. It's quiet," Mia murmured after a long stretch of uninterrupted silence. She was watching the movement of the city with a look of removed calm. Thor realized where he had seen that expression before and snorted out a laugh. Mia's head snapped around to face him, thick ropes of chestnut hair thumping lightly against his chest at the movement. "What?"

"You are picking up more from Natasha than you may notice. You looked like her just then with that face," he told her amusedly and pulled a face she had seen Natasha wear almost everyday.

"I did not," she told him with resolve, though she knew she had.

"Perhaps I was mistaken," Thor said, but the glimmer of a laugh sparkled in his eyes when he smiled back at her. She sighed. It was the only admission he would get from her.

There was another stretch of silence in which Thor found that Mia had leaned into his arm heavily, trustingly, as a friend would during a period of stillness. The warmth of her tiny arm against his bled through his shirt and onto his skin until he could feel it all the way through to his fingertips. Looking over, he saw that her expression was her own again. She almost looked content.

"Thor?" she murmured in a low, soft voice that sounded sweet in her throat. He hummed in answer next to her, the vibration reverberating through her chest. "Thank you for being so kind to me," she half-whispered, feeling drowsiness set in heavily around her, like she was standing beneath the sun on a humid summer day.

"You must know, Mia, that I was serious your first night. I will never let any harm come to you so long as I can help it. You are safe here. You are protected and you have nothing more to fear. Your past cannot hurt you, not here," Thor told her firmly but in a tone that soothed her. He felt the last of her tension trickle away as her shoulder pressed deeper into his side.

Thor had seen the video of her surgery when Stark had broken into the Chinese agency's mainframe and hacked his way through their firewall. The image of Mia, so small and delicate, swimming in a white hospital gown that was dotted with spots of shocking red at the neck still gave him chills that sliced down the length of his spine. Her face, nearly as white as the gown, had been slick with sweat and tears. He couldn't shake the memory of the way she kept rapidly blinking, as if after awhile, she would open her eyes to find herself elsewhere.

After that, a fiery rage had ignited inside of him the likes of which he hadn't felt in many, many years. He had meant what he said to Mia on her first night, though he suspected it was too early to expect her to believe him. Now, the way her small frame pressed into his side, the way her body sagged as she finally let herself relax, he knew she believed him.

She had fallen asleep; Thor could tell by the way her temple pressed into his shoulder. Her breathing had evened out and he reveled in the sound of it. The air had adopted a cool nip it hadn't carried earlier. All was quiet. Even the streets below had slowed down, emptied out.

Slowly, carefully, Thor twisted around and collected Mia into his arms. When he stood, she nestled herself closer to his chest, resting her warm palm over his heart. As he walked back to her room, he found he had squeezed her to him tightly in fear he may drop her or have to protect her from some outside force, though he knew they were safe in the tower.

He laid her down gently on her bed, removing her shoes one by one and covering her up to her chin. Thor stood there for a moment, watching the light from the moon drip slivers of silver over her cheeks and brow as she slept. When he left, he shut the door silently behind him, knowing beyond the shadow of a doubt that his universe had suddenly shifted.


	4. Training

In the weeks that followed, Natasha worked with Mia diligently, personally overseeing her hand-to-hand combat training - which proved to be more than just how to kick and punch. Natasha had insisted she perfect the art of Brazilian jiujitsu, kickboxing, karate, savate, kung fu and judo along with becoming an expert marksman, gymnast and acrobat. Thanks to Mia's accelerated capacity to learn, store huge amounts of information and adapt, she was able to absorb all of Natasha's techniques quickly and efficiently, stunning the woman and the rest of the team into a slack-jawed state of awe.

Mia had pulled herself from her funk, from her sadness and opened the gates she had closed against the team. One by one, she let them in. She began to trust them and care for them as they trusted and cared for her.

Natasha had been surprisingly patient, never raising her voice, never pushing harder than she deemed necessary and never doubting Mia for one second. The last part was an integral part of why Mia was so successful at her training. If Natasha thought she could do it, Mia found no reason she shouldn't be able to.

Mia hadn't sparred with anyone other than Natasha herself and on very exceptional occasions, Clint. Mia got the feeling he didn't quite like being used as a guinea pig or charging a woman he considered a friend, but he did as Natasha asked, albeit grudgingly. She could always tell when Clint was holding back. He had this look on his face when he would reach out to strike her, as if causing her pain caused him pain, even if his strike hadn't made contact. He lunged gingerly, only tapping her when he had to, with an open palm, never a closed fist. When he did manage to knock her over, he leaned down to pick her right up, not bothering to offer her his hand, just bending down and scooping her up. He would hold onto her shoulders as he inspected her, looking in her eyes, watching for signs of injury, until she promised he hadn't hurt her. Relief would roll off him in waves and he would heave out a breath. She had come to like Clint's quiet calm, the way he picked her up when she fell - as if it would negate the fact that he had knocked her down - his shrug when he realized he was being too soft. Natasha would scold him, but he would ignore her.

Unlike Clint, Natasha held nothing back. Mia had walked away from more spars than she could count with a bloody face and broken bones. Nothing that the team doctor couldn't patch up and nothing that her advanced healing wouldn't fix by morning, but that didn't mean she couldn't feel pain.

Once, on a Tuesday, Natasha had gotten the upper hand somehow, so quickly, Mia didn't see her coming. She had launched herself onto Mia's shoulders, twisted around until her legs were wrapped around Mia's tiny waist and flipped her over using only her legs while her hands were planted on the ground as if she would gracefully arch into a handstand. The maneuver left Mia on the ground, panting, with three broken ribs and a broken nose, but Natasha wasn't done. With a calm indifference, Natasha watched Mia try and push herself up and launched again, this time roundhouse kicking her in her broken ribs, sending her skidding across the floor and against the far wall. She hit her head so hard she blacked out. End of lesson.

The next day, when Mia's bones had fused themselves back together during one of the most painful nights she had endured since arriving at Stark Tower, Natasha brought a bottle of Russian Standard Vodka to their lesson. In lieu of training, they propped themselves against the far wall shoulder to shoulder, out of camera range, and took turns sipping from the bottle. They didn't gossip; Natasha wasn't the chatty type, but they did carry on a steady conversation that grew more enthusiastic the more liquor they devoured. Natasha spoke of Russia and her mother, bits and pieces of her mysterious past, but nothing substantial. Mia spoke of her mother too, but not in the same reverie Natasha had and Natasha drilled her about it until she was satisfied she knew why. Mia told her she wished she could wake up one morning and everything would be normal again, or at least different. Natasha paused, took another long pull from the emptying bottle and told her she wished the same, but Mia couldn't decide if she was telling the truth or not.

Perhaps it was because Mia was the only other woman on a testosterone-fueled team or perhaps it was because Natasha knew what it felt like to be thrust into a life she didn't choose, but whatever the reason, Natasha took to Mia. And she wasn't the only one.

Dr. Banner, while already fascinated with Mia to begin with thanks to the implant in her brain, spent a lot of time with her while she wasn't busy training with Natasha.

Slowly and effectively, he was teaching Mia how to control MADI. In the beginning, she seemed removed, as if her mind and her body were on two different playing fields. She seemed uninterested, unwilling to control the device. She didn't bother to mask the sadness in her eyes, looking straight at him with molten pools of silvery tears. He was at a loss; he had no idea how to coax her into learning. He had no idea how to get her to stop being afraid of the device and to start working with it. Like Thor, the problem kept him up at night, desperately trying to find new ways to help her, to assure her that she would be happy again.

The trick was merely patience, and kindness. All she needed was time. A joke developed between the two. They had lovingly begun to refer to MADI as a "she." Somehow it made the idea of the implant less intimidating for Mia.

He found that being around her gave him a sense of peace that he hadn't felt in years, even when he was holed up in some third world country, grasping at a calm resolve that simply wasn't there. There was something about the sound of her lilting voice that was almost catatonic in its delivery, like a ribbon of light pink silk caught in a gust of wind on a sunny day. His visits with Mia were always pleasant and warm; trust radiated off of the young woman and rippled into him. He felt a sense of duty to her, to helping her, to keeping her safe.

Steve shared his sentiment, though the two men had never discussed it. He expressed his concern for Mia a different way. When the team was out, Steve was always two steps behind her, careful to be mindful of her in case she fell into danger. When Mia noticed he didn't do the same with Natasha, she relinquished the idea that he was only being polite as a reflection of the different era he was from.

Mia was little, the crown of her head barely at his chest line, with a face like a heart and beautiful almond-shaped eyes that looked almost like liquefied pools of lead when they shone underneath the lights. It made her appear innocent in a way that Steve knew she wasn't, but it didn't help shake the thought. When he looked at her, he saw a wide-eyed young woman, not the deadly killing machine Natasha was slowly turning her into. Even her curtain of glimmering chestnut hair draped around her as if shielding her from unseen forces. He was keyed into Mia in a way that felt different from his other teammates. If Steve had ever fathered children, he expected he would have cared for them just the same way he cared for Mia.

Even Tony had warmed up to her, keeping her always in sight, much like Steve, but knowing she could take care of herself if the need ever arose. He had seen her train with Natasha, looking on from behind the double-sided glass window, whereas Steve refused. In the beginning, Tony watched Mia take beating after beating, flinching reflexively when vivid red blood spouted from her nose, when he heard the sickening crack of a bone breaking, when Mia's grunts tapered off into hoarse whimpers of pain. Those first two weeks, Tony left the room more days than he stayed until the end, unable to watch Mia suffer. It was good Natasha was handling her training. Tony didn't have the stomach for it. Though he hadn't dialed down his special brand of good-natured ribbing for her, he was careful to gauge her response in case he pushed too far. So far, she was able to take it all in stride, much like everything else.

There was one instance in which he witnessed the two women sharing a bottle of vodka one day, forgoing their training routine. It was so human, so intimate for two people who spent the better part of the day kicking the shit out of each other, that Tony felt like an intruder, though they couldn't see him. He felt uncomfortable watching them, like he was seeing something private and sacred, so he left. After that, he knew he wasn't the only one on the team that had tucked Mia securely under their wing.

But it was Thor she had taken to leaning on for comfort, for help or for guidance. He made her feel safe, and not the same way Steve did. If Steve followed her around like a guard dog, Thor trailed along after her like a puppy. He was always smiling, always winking her way as if they were sharing a private joke.

He was her constant companion. At the end of the day, no matter what time it was, Thor was always outside her training room, one of his huge shoulders leaned up against the wall across from the door. On the days she rolled out merely sweating and roughed up, he would nod, muss her hair and tell her she did good. On the days when she needed to be carried out because she couldn't walk, he was there, cradling her in his arms and sitting with her in the small hospital room Tony had set up for her. He would tell her she would do better the next day. Though he knew her accelerated healing would render her perfect by morning, he still spent the night pacing the room, waiting for her to open her eyes and scold him for worrying. On nights like those, Clint would stand watch outside the door, dressed in black, stoic and unwavering.

Fury noticed his team align themselves around Mia like a shield - like the shield they were meant to be. He had taken a risk bringing someone so young and inexperienced onto the team, but he had an eye for that sort of thing. Beneath her terror and her uncertainty, there was a brilliant woman, someone who would be an important asset and not just because of MADI.

Mia was excelling in her training with Natasha. As the days progressed, she was becoming stronger, wearing the Jet Ming betrayal as a weapon. He could see it etched into her face with each punch she threw; each time she forced Natasha to the ground. It didn't control her though; Fury had made it very clear to Natasha that no emotion should dictate Mia's actions. It was a fine line. Work out the betrayal so that when the time came, instead of her mind clouding over with hurt and revenge, she would be clear of mind and body. Ready.

Stark reported an excellent learning curve, a nearly impossible learning curve. She studied with him, worked on the mechanics of his suits, of the technology in the tower. He was teaching her discipline in a different way than Natasha, and Banner was teaching her differently still. Mastering MADI would take more time, but Fury was confident Mia would excel at that as well.

In the time since she had arrived, Fury had stayed away, letting Mia integrate herself into the team as her own person. He had been collecting intel on the Chinese sect of the government that had shown Mia no mercy, and thought he might drop by for a house call. Besides, it was about time he showed face.

* * *

-Hope you all enjoyed! Please share thoughts :)


	5. Fury Returns

The Russian woman, as Mia liked to refer to Natasha when she was feeling especially sour toward her, was standing over her as she clung to the last sweet seconds of slumber. Even in her sleep she could feel Natasha's presence, but she didn't let on. She liked feeling as though she had the upper hand, in this instance at least.

"Rise and shine," Natasha finally chirped, throwing the curtains open wide and smirking as the sunlight aggravated Mia's sleeping form. Natasha was proud of the work Mia had accomplished not just with her, but with Stark and Banner as well.

After their quaint introduction that first night, Natasha was sure the girl would be hamburger meat by the end of the week. She never suspected Mia to pony up and give it all she had. She had completed a rigorous training program, worked countless hours with Bruce to learn the inner-workings of MADI and apprenticed Tony with whatever he needed. Natasha knew the last one wasn't easy as Tony, while undeniably brilliant, was difficult to work with. She had done it all in stride and endeared the entire team to her as she went.

"It's 8 in the morning, Natasha. I thought you said we could sleep in today," Mia moaned and tried to grab for her covers, but Natasha had pulled them back nearly completely off the bed and out of reach.

"And I meant it. But Fury is coming in today. I want to make sure you're ready for whatever he throws at you," she said, crossing her arms against her chest and raising an eyebrow as Mia curled herself into a fetal position but opened her eyes to look at her.

"Fury's coming?" Mia asked, incredulous. She hadn't seen nor heard from Fury since the night he dropped her into the laps of six strangers.

"Yes. He's in route now and should be here soon. Get dressed and we'll get you some breakfast," Natasha answered, turning on her heel to move toward the door. "I think Stark is cooking," she mumbled over her shoulder and rolled her eyes, then left Mia to dress and join her.

Natasha was waiting in the hallway for Mia when she stepped out of her room, back pressed against the wall as she read something on a device she was holding. She fell into step beside Mia, not taking her eyes off the screen. Mia didn't notice. Natasha had so many secrets, she stopped trying to crack her codes ages ago. Natasha and her secrets were a package deal and everyone learned to live with them. People never asked questions and she never offered explanations. That was just how the world turned.

The main room on the top floor of Stark Tower was vibrant, buzzing with life, much like it had been on her first day. Sunlight radiated through the giant glass windows. The smell of freshly brewed coffee floated in the air. Though the TVs were off, the voices of the team were enough to fill the room with a cheerful hum. Silverware clicked against plates as everyone began to dig into the dishes laid out around the table.

To Mia, it all seemed so startlingly normal the first time she witnessed breakfast, how everyone could plan and plot ways to save the earth behind closed doors one minute and in the next sit down for brunch together. It was like they were old friends, reuniting after a long time away. They threw jabs at each other, wore plain clothes and laughed, really laughed. Seeing breakfast for the first time had filled her with hope that life could be normal, if only she chose the brand of normal she wanted it to be.

Natasha took her usual spot between Clint and Bruce, only setting her phone down when Clint nudged her with his shoulder. She rolled her eyes good-naturedly and nabbed a thick cut piece of bacon from the plate in front of her. As Mia sat down next to Thor, she heard Tony bellow, "Get your own plate, Russian Lady. That's what they're there for." In the next instant, he was launching a plate at Natasha like it was a Frisbee, a wide grin splitting his face. She reached up her hand and caught the plate easily, setting it down and plucking 2 more pieces of bacon from the platter in front of her.

"Gee, thanks, Stark," she answered sarcastically but Mia knew there was a smile fighting to break through her uninterested expression. Tony seemed happy enough with himself and turned to Mia.

"How'd you sleep, rookie?" he asked through bites of what looked like delicious mushroom frittata. He grabbed another plate she assumed was for her and started loading it up with food; bacon, frittata, sausage, cantaloupe, a biscuit with gravy, until Mia couldn't see the pretty gold design on the plate at all anymore.

"Fine, though I didn't know anything about the 8 a.m. wake up call or I would've gone to bed earlier," she grumbled and Tony smiled at her, handing her the heavy plate and leaning back in his chair.

"Believe me, sister, neither did we. That's how Fury likes to play it. He thinks it keeps us on our toes but it doesn't," he told her and pointed at Clint and Natasha. "The only people he shares his secret plans with are the monochrome twins over there." Mia chuckled at that and Tony's smile split wider still. "You want coffee?"

"Yes, please," she said as she shoveled a mound of eggs into her mouth. Tony nodded and poured her a steaming cup, nudging the cream canister, the sugar and the cinnamon shaker her way. She smiled graciously and he winked at her, turning his attention to Steve and Clint who found themselves in need of a referee for their discussion and called on Stark.

"No broken bones last night, I see?" Thor murmured, nudging her gently with his elbow and smiling. No one was happier that Mia was excelling at her training than Thor – not even Mia herself. The nights Thor spent in agony, watching her writhe in pain from the fractures and the breaks and the bruises was enough to make any man, mortal or demi-god, weak.

Her answering smile was radiant and he couldn't help but chuckle.

"I'm very glad," he said and she scooted her last piece of bacon onto his plate.

"I'm very glad too."

"Look sharp!" Tony shouted, standing up and throwing his arms out to the sides. "We've got movement in the lobby. A one-eyed maniac is heading toward the private elevators," he joked and Mia stiffened just slightly before she realized he was talking about Fury. Thor continued to eat and Natasha and Steve rolled their eyes at each other.

"Sir," a prim, disembodied voice called across the room.

"Yes, Jarvis," Tony asked.

"Director Fury is requesting access to the elevator bay. It seems his clearance has been…changed," Jarvis said, no doubt trying to find a diplomatic way to say that he couldn't get upstairs. Tony snickered, obviously pleased with himself and his private joke on Fury.

"Access granted," he said after a long beat of silence. A quiet fell amongst the group. Mia got the distinct impression that everyone was putting their game face on, though she wasn't sure the situation necessitated one. No one seemed uncomfortable, just ready for anything.

The elevator dinged. The doors slid open. Fury was already staring at Tony, more aggravation in one single eye than any two-eyed man would be able to conjure.

"Good morning, team," he said, eye sliding away from Tony to touch on everyone else around the table as he approached. He tucked his hands behind his back and stopped behind the vacant chair at the head of the table. "You're all looking rested," he said by way of greeting and Mia saw Steve's eyes narrow by a fraction.

"Well I'd hope so. I spent a small fortune on top of the line mattresses so we could turn this place into a high end secret agent hotel," Tony quipped with a good-natured scoff. Mia suppressed the urge to laugh but Thor smiled unabashedly. Such was his nature.

"That's good, Mr. Stark. You're going to need all the rest you can get in the coming days," Fury said and shifted his feet behind the chair. "We've gathered intelligence on the location of a facility the Chinese are using – "

"For what?" Steve interjected, leaning forward in his chair. Mia, on the other hand, had stiffened, her body going so still and tense that she feared she'd snap completely in half. But she listened with rapt attention, eyes wide, her enhanced mind already calculating through the information again and again.

And she knew what they were using it for.

"For human experiments," Fury said after a beat of hesitation in which he forced himself not to glance in Mia's direction, though she felt his urge so keenly it raised the hair on her arms. Now it was Thor's turn to stiffen, and Tony and Steve and Bruce and so on across the table until it seemed as though only statues listened as Fury spoke. Realizing he had locked in the attention across the room, Fury continued.

"What I need is more intelligence. I need eyes and ears. I don't need casualties or heroes. This is as sensitive as it gets. The mission is simple – I need a team of three to infiltrate the premises, take stock of exactly what's going on in there, and get back here to report," Fury said, looking carefully around the table. Mia stared at him so intensely his eye stuck to her face, as if trapped in her laser focus. "Mia, you'll accompany Captain Rogers and Mr. Stark." Before she could nod, Natasha was speaking

"Sir, I think it would be prudent if I accompanied the team. I've trained Mia in combat and I'd like to be there should the need for instruction arise," Natasha said and Fury regarded her silently for a moment before nodding. He opened his mouth to speak again but Clint's voice filled the room instead.

"Sir, I'd like to be present in the instance of enemy fire," Clint said, his face uncompromising and Fury sighed through his nose. He looked from Clint to Bruce, then Thor.

"And I suppose it's imperative that you both be _present_ as well," Fury grumbled.

"Oh I was going no matter what," Thor said with a small smile. Bruce merely crossed his arms and fixed Fury with an unflinching stare. This time, Mia didn't try to stifle the smile she felt.

"As you'd like. But do not mess this up. Get as much intel as you can and get out. You have 48 hours to prepare for departure. I've uploaded the coordinates into the secure server, Jarvis can navigate from there."

"Yes, sir," Jarvis confirmed.

"Are we all clear?" Fury asked the table and was answered with affirmative murmurs and nods all around. "Good," he said and turned to leave, but not before plucking a fork off the table and stabbing it into a piece of the mushroom frittata on Tony's plate. He chewed as he moved toward the slowly opening elevator doors, leaving a stunned into silence Tony gaping at him like a fish.

"Oh, and, Tony? This is the worst frittata I've ever tasted," he said over his shoulder before stepping into the elevator. Mia caught sight of his laughing face through the sliver of the closing doors.


	6. First Mission

Thor was checking and double checking the buckles strapped across her chest; tightening the straps until she felt like she would pop from the pressure. It didn't matter that Mia was nearly invincible – just as invincible as he was, in fact. It also didn't matter how many times she reminded him of this. He just continued to fiddle with her weapons, tighten the straps fastening her to the seat on the aircraft, and pace.

To Mia's dismay, Thor wasn't the only member of the team that was nervous, though they weren't as outwardly obvious as Thor. Tony kept glancing sideways at her as if she couldn't see him, and Steve had already positioned himself in a defensive stance near her, prepared for anything. She knew Bruce was just terrified that she would be terrified at the sight of him once he…changed. If it even came to that. She still hadn't seen the other guy, as he so gingerly liked to refer to his Hulk form. She had laughed and told him she'd love him no matter what. He blushed.

Natasha and Clint sat up front, flying the aircraft expertly over the still sea below. Their drop zone was coming up quick; Mia could feel everyone's anxiety bubbling up to the surface.

Their mission was simple: glean what information they could about the new facility the Chinese had built for their human experiments and get out. The facility was nearly done and still completely unoccupied, save for a couple of guards on the night shift. It was only supposed to be her, Tony and Steve for any necessary backup. This wasn't a search and destroy mission. Fury thought he'd ease her into field work by sending her out on a mission for intel, rather than hand to hand combat.

In a short message just before takeoff, Fury had demanded no destruction of property. Mia had poorly suppressed a laugh. She had seen the news, like everyone else. Destruction of property was kinda their thing, second only to extreme structural damage.

"Sixty seconds," Natasha yelled from the cockpit.

"Can I unbuckle now?" Mia asked, smiling mischievously up at Thor who stood over her with his huge arms crossed against his chest.

"You may," he answered and Mia whipped her buckles off before he was even finished, standing triumphantly. She had been squished in that seat for nearly an hour while everyone else got to roam around the cabin.

The loading door slowly started to lower, a red flashing light and a low-pitched beeping alerted them to it. The wind kicked up, yanking at Mia's tightly fastened ponytail.

"Thirty seconds!" Natasha called over the rush of cold air. "We'll circle around and meet you on the east beach in thirty minutes! Wheels up at 0200!"

Tony walked to the edge of the plane and looked back at Mia. "Ready?" he asked, smiling excitedly. She nodded and before she could take a step toward him, Thor grabbed her shoulders and turned her to face him. She felt so little, so delicate underneath his hands.

"Be careful. Do not underestimate your surroundings. Remember your training," he told her, emphasizing every word to be sure she heard him. She pulled her goggles over her eyes and placed a black-gloved hand over the hand he held on her shoulder and nodded.

"I will be careful. I promise," she said and he straightened hesitantly. "Besides, I'm sure Captain America and Ironman would never let anything happen to little old Mia," she joked.

"We should get you a codename. 'Little Old Mia' doesn't really inspire the masses," Tony quipped and his helmet snapped into place. "Pony up, lady, let's go!" he called as he shot into the night sky. Steve was beside her in the next instant and she could tell by the look on his face that he wanted to check on the security of her parachute buckles. But he had seen Thor put it on her, and then tug at the straps over and over again, so he knew there was nothing to worry about. Not that he wasn't worrying because he was.

"Okay, ready?" he asked Mia and she nodded, taking a deep, steadying breath. She had never jumped out of an airplane before. At least she could take solace in the fact that the fall couldn't kill her anyway. It would just hurt. Really, really badly.

They both walked up to the edge and gripped the sides of the plane.

"Open your parachute as soon as I do!" Steve called over the howling wind. From the corner of her eye, Mia could see Thor standing stiff as a board; the only thing moving was his golden hair whipping against his face.

"Roger that!" Mia joked lightly and Steve smiled.

"One…two…three!" he counted and before Mia knew it, she was free falling through the velvety black sky. The urge to scream was just barely suppressed in her throat – if only because the force of the wind against her face was taking her breath away. For the first time since she had arrived in the company of Earth's Mightiest Heroes, Mia felt fear trickle into her bloodstream. Her fingers and toes tingled and she couldn't tell if it was because she was hurtling toward the ground or because she was terrified.

Steve was just to the right of her, ripping through the air like a red, white and blue torpedo, and she, a black bullet right beside him. In the distance, she could make out the light from Tony's suit. Thanks to her enhanced eyesight, Mia was able to sift through the inky darkness of the night and find the ground. She saw the compound they were aiming for, gleaming like a beacon the size of a quarter in the light of the moon. Tony wasn't heading straight for it. Instead, he maneuvered his landing just to the left, under the cover of what looked like a small smattering of trees.

"Pull!" She heard Steve yell at her over the wind. His voice sounded so far away, though he was just feet from her. Seconds later, Mia heard him pull the ripcord and deploy his parachute. Her right hand shot for her chest, right where she knew the cord was and finally, after fumbling around for the pull for what seemed like forever, she yanked down hard. All the breath was knocked out of her as she shot back, pulled by the strength of the chute opening. In one instant, she went from hurling through the air at break-neck speeds, to gently falling, supported by what felt like the hands of a benevolent god tugging at her shoulders. When she was able, she breathed a sigh of relief and nimbly navigated her way toward the little clearing in the wood she saw Steve heading for.

Steve landed gracefully for such a large man, his boots barely making a sound as they connected with the foliage on the forest floor. Mia, on the other hand, knew she was in for a crash landing the moment the ground was within spitting distance. She pulled on one of her cords sharply and was yanked backward and to the left, barley suppressing a yelp of surprise. Steve and Tony watched with both amusement and mild panic as her heels connected with the earth and dragged back, back, back by the force of her opened parachute.

Finally, she reached up and yanked the release cord, whipping backward as the parachute detached from her pack and drifted softly away to the ground a couple feet from Mia. She grunted as she fully connected with the ground, but a quick inventory of her body revealed she was completely unhurt. The only thing that stung was her pride and her red-hot cheeks as Steve and Tony sauntered toward her. Tony was barely containing a giggle and she shot him a warning glance as if to say, " _don't_."

"You know, for your first time, it really wasn't so bad," Steve offered, reaching a hand down to help her up. She rolled her eyes at him and grasped his hand. In the next instant she was on her feet, pulled upward completely by a twitch of Steve's wrist.

"You do have a little forest in your hair though," Tony interjected, head cocking to the side as he counted the number of twigs and autumn leaves Mia's hair had acquired during her barrel roll across the ground.

She narrowed her eyes at him, but raised her hand to her hair to inspect. She heard the crunch of leaves and felt the dirt trickle to her shoulders at the touch and she heard Tony chuckle before turning and walking toward the cover of the trees.

Her and Steve fell into step with Tony a moment later, after Mia had vigorously shaken out her hair as best she could. The night air was still warm around them, though fall was creeping in and the smell of dead leaves clung to the forest like a perfume. In another couple of weeks, the trees wouldn't have provided much cover at all without leaves. All was quiet, save for the familiar sounds of the crickets and the soft croaking of toads nearby. In the distance, Mia heard an owl call out to the darkness, a solemn, somber note.

Though the trees, once they had sifted their way through the densest part of the forest, Mia could see the lights of the facility winking at her as if to taunt. She could see slices of the stark white walls as they drew nearer and nearer, until Steve rounded on both of them, crouching into a squat and motioning them to follow suit.

"Alright, we've got our orders. We're to just gain as much actionable intelligence as we can." He turned to Tony. "And we don't touch anything," he finished, raising his eyebrows. Tony pressed his metal hand to his breastplate in mock offense.

"I would never," he vowed. Steve rolled his eyes.

"We can be in and out in under ten minutes. Mia, take inventory of what you see and stay on my right, always. Tony, try to see what kind of tech we're up against here. We've got approximately 25 minutes to meet the team on the west side of the property for extraction," he said and tapped his earpiece, activating the line which was open to the entire team. "Coms up," he said softly and Mia heard him both in front of her and inside her head. She nodded and Tony snapped his helmet into place.

With that, they set off, closer and closer to the white walls of the facility, close enough that Mia felt exposed while still under the cover of the trees. When the breached the very edge of the forest, Steve paused, running his eyes over the long stretch of white and flicking his fingers toward it, a silent command to move forward.

Mia was like a shadow on his right, close enough to feel the warmth from his body, but separated enough to be able to move easily. Tony silently took to the sky as Steve and Mia nimbly made their way toward that impregnable wall of white. Once upon it, they both pressed their backs to the wall, waiting for the signal from Tony on the direction of their entrance.

"Loading dock just around the corner. Two guards at the entrance but dock is open. Looks like they're expecting a shipment to come though tonight," Mia heard Tony say in her earpiece.

"Roger that," Steve answered, and this time, there was no playfulness in his tone. Mia felt nervousness twist in her gut. She had only really sparred with Natasha up until this point, but the Russian was confident in her. She had told her over and over again. And Fury must be too if he had sent her out on this mission.

She didn't have time to think anymore as Steve shoved off the wall and started moving parallel to it, slightly crouched, ready to spring at any moment. She tracked him and they moved in tandem. She focused her energy on following Steve, step after step, positioning herself in the exact same way he was. Their steps were whispers against the cement, their breaths making no sound at all. They approached the corner and paused as a unit.

Three beats of silence went by.

Again, Mia heard Tony in her head.

"Go."


End file.
